Emmy-nominated drama and comedy writers pinpoint the scene that made it all work - Randee Dawn
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9/8/2020 Key moments in the scripts that earned 2020 Emmy nominations - Los Angeles Times
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Emmy-nominated drama and comedy writers pinpoint the scene
that made it all work
Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) is ambushed while carrying millions of dollars through the desert for drug boss Lalo
Salamanca in “Better Call Saul.” Season 5’s “Bagman” episode has been nominated for a writing Emmy. (AMC/Sony
Pictures Television)
By RANDEE DAWN
AUG. 24, 2020 | 6:30 AM
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9/8/2020 Key moments in the scripts that earned 2020 Emmy nominations - Los Angeles Times
The most important scene in a TV episode isn’t always clear-cut: Is it when a character
makes a big decision? Is it a small call-back moment to an earlier season? Does it come
as an unplanned surprise — even to the writer? The answer for all of this year’s drama
and comedy series Emmy nominees is … yes, yes and yes! Here’s how each of the 14
nominated writers in those categories singled out their most important scenes to The
Envelope.
Drama Nominees
Series: “Better Call Saul
Episode: “Bagman”
Saul tries to lure out his attacker in a scene from “Better Call Saul.” (AMC/Sony Pictures Television)
Here’s the key: Having fled through the desert carrying Lalo’s money, Jimmy makes a
decision to face his pursuer for a final confrontation so he can go home to Kim.
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9/8/2020 Key moments in the scripts that earned 2020 Emmy nominations - Los Angeles Times
The big deal: “We wanted to put Jimmy through some trauma, so what does he take
from it?” says writer Gordon Smith. “He’s willing [to do what it takes] to survive and
will do anything to get back to Kim. He finds the strength to draw out this dangerous
person and put himself in the most vulnerable place.”
Series: “Better Call Saul”
Episode: “Bad Choice Road”
Kim (Rhea Seehorn) spins out a tale of loyalty to the unpredictable Lalo. (AMC/Sony Pictures Television)
Here’s the key: Dangerously unpredictable Lalo Salamanca demands the truth from
Jimmy after his experience in the desert, but a quick-thinking Kim stands up for her
husband, ultimately saving both of their lives.
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9/8/2020 Key moments in the scripts that earned 2020 Emmy nominations - Los Angeles Times
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The big deal: “The series has two parallel storylines, and this is where they cross,” says
writer Thomas Schnauz. “Lalo is a wild card and has taken people out before. [Kim’s]
death could be coming from anywhere. But she turns the tables and ends up dominating
the scene — defending what she knows is a lie in defense of a different truth.”
Series: “Ozark”
Episode: “Fire Pink”
Ben (Tom Pelphrey) flees from a psychiatric hospital in “Ozark.” (Netflix)
Here’s the key: Wendy’s bipolar brother, Ben, breaks out of a psychiatric hospital and
unleashes a stream-of-consciousness monologue while talking to a taxi driver.
The big deal: “Tom Pelphrey (Ben) is an incredible actor with extraordinary access to
the mental sickness we were trying to get in,” says writer Miki Johnson. “His
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9/8/2020 Key moments in the scripts that earned 2020 Emmy nominations - Los Angeles Times
performance is so indelible, and if we had hired a different actor, I would not have
written the monologue at all. I was inspired by his character.”
Series: “Ozark”
Episode: “Boss Fight”
Marty (Jason Bateman) is kidnapped and tortured by a drug cartel until he finally snaps and says what’s on his mind.
(Netflix)
Here’s the key: Kidnapped by the Navarro cartel, an imprisoned, tortured Marty Byrd
finally unleashes his anger at his tormentors rather than continue cowering.
The big deal: “Marty is kind of forced into therapy by torture, to face his own wants
and desires and attitude,” says writer John Shiban. “He says things you wouldn’t want
to say to a drug lord — and Jason Bateman nails it, coming out like a wounded animal to
rage at this guy. He’s got his mojo back.”
Series: “Ozark
Episode: “All In”
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9/8/2020 Key moments in the scripts that earned 2020 Emmy nominations - Los Angeles Times
Wendy and Marty Byrd (Laura Linney and Jason Bateman) find a rare moment of agreement after being at odds for so long.
(Tina Rowden / Netflix)
Here’s the key: Marty lies down next to Wendy in bed, saying she was right all along,
they need to burrow into the heart of what’s going on.
The big deal: It brings the story full circle, says writer Chris Mundy. “In Season 1
they’d lost a baby, and it was a call back to that moment, which led them into money
laundering in the first place. We wanted it to bounce off the flashback and be a direct
answer: Marty has come around to her point of view.”
Series: “Succession”
Episode: “This Is Not for Tears”
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9/8/2020 Key moments in the scripts that earned 2020 Emmy nominations - Los Angeles Times
Logan Roy, his family and their executives plot out who should take the fall for company malfeasance in
“Succession.” (Graeme Hunter)
Here’s the key: Logan’s family and executives discuss who should take the fall for
misdeeds in the company that have recently gone public.
The big deal: “The stakes were clear: They were discussing who would go to jail, and
that was a meaty scene — a key building-block scene that people who enjoy the show
would enjoy seeing,” says series creator and writer Jesse Armstrong, who singles out
Mark Mylod’s direction of the episode as key to making it work.
Series: “The Crown”
Episode: “Aberfan”
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9/8/2020 Key moments in the scripts that earned 2020 Emmy nominations - Los Angeles Times
After fumbling her response to the coal-mining disaster in Wales, Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II is attends a memorial.
(Des Willie/Netflix)
Here’s the key: Queen Elizabeth II fumbles in her response to a coal-mining disaster
in Wales, and needs coaching from Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
The big deal: “The queen’s response to Aberfan is her biggest regret for the first 50
years of being a queen,” says creator and writer Peter Morgan. “She feels her failure to
respond reveals her biggest flaws as a human being: lack of empathy and social
sophistication. The prime minister manages her delicately and puts her back together.”
Comedy Nominees
Series: “The Great”
Episode: “The Great”
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9/8/2020 Key moments in the scripts that earned 2020 Emmy nominations - Los Angeles Times
Breakfast together after their wedding night reveals sides to Peter (Nicholas Hoult) and Catherine (Elle Fanning) not
previously shown. (Nick Wall/Hulu)
Here’s the key: Post-wedding night, Peter and Catherine share breakfast together.
The big deal: “The most fundamental aspect of Catherine’s character is her deranged
optimism, and we hadn’t yet seen that,” says creator-writer Tony McNamara. “We’d
only seen her as a romantic idealist. This is the first proper give-and-take between the
two of them. It sets him up as not just a crazy tyrant; there are aspects of him that are
more like a little boy. It makes their relationship more interesting.”
Series: “What We Do in the Shadows”
Episode: “On the Run”
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9/8/2020 Key moments in the scripts that earned 2020 Emmy nominations - Los Angeles Times
Vampire Laszlo, right, disguises himself as a human bartender (by wearing blue jeans) to hide from an old enemy (played by
Mark Hamill). (Russ Martin / FX)
Here’s the key: Old enemy Jim tracks vampire Laszlo to a bar where he’s in “disguise”
as Jackie Daytona, but doesn’t recognize him immediately … because “Jackie” keeps a
toothpick in his mouth and wears blue jeans.
The big deal: “It’s so silly and absurd, and that was the tone I was going for: this
small-town type story, with the added layer of pure stupidity of Jim (Mark Hamill),
who’s fooled by a toothpick,” says writer Stefani Robinson. “Watching Luke Skywalker
play this specific kind of vampire was a joy.”
Series: “What We Do in the Shadows”
Episode: “Collaboration”
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Human familiar Guillermo (Harvy Guillén), front, leaves his master, Nandor (Kayvan Novak), who has not treated him well.
(FX)
Here’s the key: Human familiar Guillermo leaves Nandor in the hopes his new boss
will make him a vampire.
The big deal: “It’s the first time Guillermo really pins Nandor down to make this
impossible request [to become a vampire], and Nandor does not want to answer this
question,” says Sam Johnson, who wrote the episode with Chris Marcil. “It moves the
arc of the series — there’s a weird almost romantic comedy between those two.”
Series: “What We Do in the Shadows”
Episode: “Ghosts”
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During a seance, the vampires are confronted by their dead spirits. Nadja’s (Natasia Demetriou) takes up residence in a doll.
(FX)
Here’s the key: During a séance, the vampires are confronted by their dead spirits;
one infests a doll.
The big deal: “It was technically hard to do, having three actors acting opposite
themselves,” says writer Paul Simms. “Seeing them do it was amazing; it was shot in so
many pieces that it wasn’t until the final edit that it all came together. I ignored all my
self-censoring about how hard this would be to do — and wrote it like a challenge.”
Series: “Schitt’s Creek”
Episode: “The Presidential Suite”
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Alexis (Annie Murphy) and Ted (Dustin Milligan) discover the most loving thing they can do for each other is to break up.
(Brooke Palmer/Pop TV)
Here’s the key: Alexis and Ted break up so they can continue their separate careers.
The big deal: “There’s a very long game being played, a slow burn for many
characters,” says David West Read. “The universe has made it hard for them to be the
people they want to be — and to be together. So, since they care about each other, they
let each other go.”
Series: “Schitt’s Creek”
Episode: “Happy Ending”
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David (Dan Levy) and Patrick (Noah Reid) get married by Moira (Catherine O’Hara) in a scene from “Schitt’s Creek.” (Pop
TV)
Here’s the key: David and Patrick get married, with Moira officiating.
The big deal: “Moira is challenged with an emotional revelation she never had before,”
says writer Daniel Levy. “This woman had held it together for all of the seasons of our
show but couldn’t anymore. And then there were David’s vows — he’d been shut off and
closed down, but now he could speak his heart. He decided not to make a joke or deflect
with sarcasm.”
Series: “The Good Place”
Episode: “Whenever You’re Ready”
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Eleanor (Kristen Bell) and Chidi (William Jackson Harper) say their goodbyes when Chidi decides to leave paradise on “The
Good Place.” (Colleen Hayes / NBC)
Here’s the key: After finally making it to the Good Place and living in paradise, Chidi
decides to move on to nonexistence and provides Eleanor with another way to look at
death.
The big deal: “He suggests that death is like returning to the ocean as a wave, and that
Buddhist understanding of death was probably the most important scene,” says creator-
writer Michael Schur. “That scene had to do a lot of work, and was the one I was most
concerned about getting right.”
TELEVISION AWARDS EMMYS
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